Some facility managers and equipment installers assume, for example, that a 25 ohm ground, which is adequate for human life and heavy mechanical equipment, is also sufficient protection for the delicate suite of technology that commands and organizes modern life – computers, closed-circuit cameras, wireless gateways and telecommunications of all kinds. But 5 ohms is typically the standard set by today’s electronics manufacturers.

Some facility managers and equipment installers assume that the 25 ohm ground required by the National Electric Code (NEC) is good enough for sensitive electronics. The NEC requirement is the minimum for personnel electrical safety and fire protection. It applies to every building and home in the U.S. It is totally inadequate for a delicate suite of technology that performs command control for a state wide public safety radio network – computers, closed-circuit cameras, wireless gateways and telecommunications of all kinds.

Less than 5 ohms is typically the standard set by nearly all of today’s electronics manufacturers. The grounding system determines the effectiveness of all other electrical protection systems (lighting and surge suppression).

Cannon’s concern was intensified by the fact that her firm would install an antenna on the rooftop of the new county building. Since antennas by necessity are higher than everything else in the area, they attract lightning.

“A public service system must work every time. You may say that one failure in five thousand is no big deal. But if you’re the one safety official who is not getting your call through, it is a big deal,” she said, adding, “Acts of God aren’t covered under warranty. Lightning damage is on the customer’s dime.”

Since it is a lot easier – and less expensive – to get the proper grounding system in place before a building is completed, Cannon recommended that Lyncole Industries, Inc., provide the second opinion.

She was introduced to Lyncole, a grounding and electrical protection (lightning and surge protection) company, when she attended a grounding course conducted by Senior Engineer Roy Whitten in 2000.

Lyncole’s team not only corroborated the Tyco Electronics findings, but found even more problems. As a result, Cannon and her engineers helped the presiding engineering firm work through a long list of recommendations that made the county building safe for the public – and for the technology.

If you believed the county building incident is rare, you would be mistaken. Many times engineers equip new structures with protection that may have been standard 30 years ago. The problem persists, in part, because county and municipal codes on grounding and other standards for sophisticated technologies in most cases have not kept pace with the rapid advancements in technology.

Designing the grounding for sophisticated, sensitive suites begins with determining the resistivity of the soil. Any predictable grounding system design relies on soil resistivity data, which me performs command control for a state wide public safety radio network – computers, closed-circuit cameras, wireless gateways and telecommunications of all kinds.

Less than 5 ohms is typically the standard set by nearly all of today’s electronics manufacturers. The grounding system determines the effectiveness of all other electrical protection systems (lighting and surge suppression).

Cannon’s concern was intensified by the fact that her firm would install an antenna on the rooftop of the new county building. Since antennas by necessity are higher than everything else in the area, they attract lightning.

“A public service system must work every time. You may say that one failure in five thousand is no big deal. But if you’re the one safety official who is not getting your call through, it is a big deal,” she said, adding, “Acts of God aren’t covered under warranty. Lightning damage is on the customer’s dime.”

Since it is a lot easier – and less expensive – to get the proper grounding system in place before a building is completed, Cannon recommended that Lyncole Industries, Inc., provide the second opinion.

She was introduced to Lyncole, a grounding and electrical protection (lightning and surge protection) company, when she attended a grounding course conducted by Senior Engineer Roy Whitten in 2000.

Lyncole’s team not only corroborated the Tyco Electronics findings, but found even more problems. As a result, Cannon and her engineers helped the presiding engineering firm work through a long list of recommendations that made the county building safe for the public – and for the technology.

If you believed the county building incident is rare, you would be mistaken. Many times engineers equip new structures with protection that may have been standard 30 years ago. The problem persists, in part, because county and municipal codes on grounding and other standards for sophisticated technologies in most cases have not kept pace with the rapid advancements in technology.

Designing the grounding for sophisticated, sensitive suites begins with determining the resistivity of the soil. Any predictable grounding system design relies on soil resistivity data, which measures the resistance of the earth to the flow of electrical current flow. Soil resistivity is determined by the type of soil, its moisture and electrolyte content and temperature.

With a basic method, getting an accurate soil resistivity measurement at a new site is difficult to “mess up.” But the level of difficulty increases dramatically when measuring resistance of an installed  grounding system at an existing site, according to Cannon. “If you don’t do the soil resistivity and understand what you’re working with, you put in a system and test – and it doesn’t work. Then you have retrofit, and that is very difficult. If you do it upfront, you understand what you’re working with. But you still need an expert to get it done right.”

Eroding grounding systems in existing buildings are also dangerous and hard to fix, according to Mark J. Donald, PE, capital projects engineer for Florida’s Polk County Board of County Commissioners Facilities Management Division. “A standard grounding system uses copper rods that are driven into the soil. Those rods are sacrificial. Over a period of years, a grounding system that was good when installed gets eaten away. But not many people go back and re-do their grounding systems after 20 years.”

Polk County can’t afford to be casual about upgrades. The county, situated dead center in Florida, is a magnet to storms and lightning. In 2004 the county was visited three Category 3 hurricanes – Charley, Jean and Frances. “We’re the lightning capital of the United States. When the breezes shift from offshore to onshore – on the gulf and Atlantic sides of the state – you get extremely warm air meeting with sea breezes, the optimal conditions for thunderstorms.”

In early 2008, Polk County completed installation of a new 190-foot communications tower. Donald acknowledged that the maximum for a low-resistance ground is typically five ohms. But due to Polk County’s vulnerability, he was shooting for 2 ohms. The new system designed by Lyncole actually achieved a level of under 1 ohm.

The grounding system used by Lyncole Industries is a UL-listed, self-moisturizing and maintenance-free system that provides low resistance in diverse climates without damaging the environment. The system actually improves over time by constantly replenishing moisture into soil.

You’re always subject to some possible damage. But, you try to mitigate that as much as possible by building a path so that current from a lightning hit goes directly into the ground and not into your $100,000 servers. You can’t afford to lose those. Or have your emergency operations go down the middle of a hurricane.

Today virtually all technology is threatened by lightning strikes. And that makes grounding and lightning protection important for any building that includes any type technology center, even yours. FSM